almost there subwoofer pick to complete setup (1 Viewer)

[mattsonelist]

hey guys, with your help I have narrowed down my search and am putting my full order in by the end of the week, wires are ran and sheetrock is going up.. final picks for a subwoofer and ceiling speakers.. here is the setup
What are you looking for (Speakers, Subwoofer or Both)? Speakers

Primary Use: 100% movies

Desired Configuration: 7.1.4

Room Size: 13x22
135" screen projector, single row seating setup

Is the room open to other areas of your home: No

Do you already have an AV receiver or amplifier? no but buying Denon AVR 4300H , will get 2 channel amp to drive rear speakers in the near future
What's your budget (low to high): speakers already narrowed down
Any special requirements (Wife Acceptance)? Nope

Going with a a 7.1.4 setup with Kefq all around nice sales right now!!!
Receiver - Denon avrx4300h
Center- Kefq200c
FR/L- kefq500 towers
side bookshelfs- kefq100
rears- buying but not hooking up till a little later kefq 100

2 questions..
1) subwoofer, some of you recommended not going with the kefq400b since there are better options for the same money..
so.. do I go kefq400b or svs? (pb1000 or sb1000) been reading on ported vs sealed and if I'm correct I would benefit from a ported (pb1000) since its a decent sized dedicated room and for movies and not music.. any help would be great here. any other recommendations other than those? they are both 500 and I'm at my limit here so not looking to spend any more.

2) ceiling speakers, after calling kef q I'm looking into the ci160 er - they are 300 per pair ( a bit pricey)
any recommendations here? I would need 2 pair of course. also any ideas of not going with in ceiling and mounting a different speaker on a track on the ceiling so that I could adjust their placement if I wanted to do that in the future to say add a second row, or even create a nice VR setup where the user would be more central in the future.. any thoughts would be great.. you all got me this far and I am very appreciative

 

[gadgtfreek]

Just looking at your PB1000 budget, look here too, not a fan of 10" for movies:

http://www.rythmikaudio.com/LV12R.html
http://www.rythmikaudio.com/L12.html
http://www.hsuresearch.com/products/vtf-2mk5.html


And yes, Id go ported.

 

[ArmSC]

1) subwoofer, some of you recommended not going with the kefq400b since there are better options for the same money..
so.. do I go kefq400b or svs? (pb1000 or sb1000) been reading on ported vs sealed and if I'm correct I would benefit from a ported (pb1000) since its a decent sized dedicated room and for movies and not music.. any help would be great here. any other recommendations other than those? they are both 500 and I'm at my limit here so not looking to spend any more.

I would either go with the Q400 or the PB1000 of those three you mentioned. I'm fairly sure the SB1000 will not give you volume that you're looking for in a home theater with 11 speakers. I also really like the suggestion of the Rythmik LV12R and the HSU VTF-2 MK5. My only other suggestion would be to do two lesser subs like the BIC F12 $210.

2) ceiling speakers, after calling kef q I'm looking into the ci160 er - they are 300 per pair ( a bit pricey)
any recommendations here? I would need 2 pair of course. also any ideas of not going with in ceiling and mounting a different speaker on a track on the ceiling so that I could adjust their placement if I wanted to do that in the future to say add a second row, or even create a nice VR setup where the user would be more central in the future.. any thoughts would be great.. you all got me this far and I am very appreciative

I don't know that it's worth it to go with KEF's in the ceiling. I think you could be totally fine with lesser speakers for the height roll. Something like these might be something to look into. If you went with lesser speakers you could probably step up the sub to a larger more powerful single or a better set of two subs.

• Micca M-8C $45ea - Lesser know brand but I have some of their other speakers and they aren't bad.
• Yamaha NSIW360C $100pr
• Yamaha NS-IW280CWH $90pr

 

[mattsonelist]

1) subwoofer, some of you recommended not going with the kefq400b since there are better options for the same money..
so.. do I go kefq400b or svs? (pb1000 or sb1000) been reading on ported vs sealed and if I'm correct I would benefit from a ported (pb1000) since its a decent sized dedicated room and for movies and not music.. any help would be great here. any other recommendations other than those? they are both 500 and I'm at my limit here so not looking to spend any more.

I would either go with the Q400 or the PB1000 of those three you mentioned. I'm fairly sure the SB1000 will not give you volume that you're looking for in a home theater with 11 speakers. I also really like the suggestion of the Rythmik LV12R and the HSU VTF-2 MK5. My only other suggestion would be to do two lesser subs like the BIC F12 $210.

2) ceiling speakers, after calling kef q I'm looking into the ci160 er - they are 300 per pair ( a bit pricey)
any recommendations here? I would need 2 pair of course. also any ideas of not going with in ceiling and mounting a different speaker on a track on the ceiling so that I could adjust their placement if I wanted to do that in the future to say add a second row, or even create a nice VR setup where the user would be more central in the future.. any thoughts would be great.. you all got me this far and I am very appreciative

I don't know that it's worth it to go with KEF's in the ceiling. I think you could be totally fine with lesser speakers for the height roll. Something like these might be something to look into. If you went with lesser speakers you could probably step up the sub to a larger more powerful single or a better set of two subs.

• Micca M-8C $45ea - Lesser know brand but I have some of their other speakers and they aren't bad.
• Yamaha NSIW360C $100pr
• Yamaha NS-IW280CWH $90pr

thank you so much for the ceiling speakers because that was really hurting the pocket. i was trying to find a decent pair and didnt think i had to go crazy. for the sub would you go with the single vtf-2 mk5 or the the double bic 12,s. i did run 2 sub cables incase i ran into that situation. i have one in the front corner of the room and ran one in the opposite rear corner. also would the denon 4300h run the 7.1.4 and the 2 subs??? i will be making the decision off your answer since it runs practically the same amount of money

 

[gadgtfreek]

Two subs are generally better than one, the issue for me is, is dual bics going to best the VTF2. That Im not sure of because I have never owned a bic. I do know when I had the VTF2 MK4 in this room (over 5300 cu ft) it performed very very well.

 

[BaconFat]

Yes the Denon can run two subs and has the ability to set them up with its built-in Audyssey MultiEq XT32. As far as your sub choice goes, one $1k sub will give you better output than two $500 subs. Maybe today $1k is all you can spend but who's to say a year later you might be able get another $1k sub. Better to get the best $1k sub today than want to upgrade your two $500 subs in the future. Take a look at Power Sound Audio's(PSA) V1500 or 15V subs. I have one 15V and I'm very happy with with its output. PSA has free shipping and a 60 day trial period.

I'll say this. It looks like you're building a really nice HT. One that you'll enjoy for years to come so don't scrimp on your subs. Few people have thought they bought a sub too big for their use, but many have wished they had gone bigger.

 

[ArmSC]

thank you so much for the ceiling speakers because that was really hurting the pocket. i was trying to find a decent pair and didnt think i had to go crazy. for the sub would you go with the single vtf-2 mk5 or the the double bic 12,s.

You're very welcome for the help. I think the one vs two sub decision is a hard one. If assuming $500 budget for subs the two BIC F12s should should better and having them in different positions in the room should help eliminate nulls that one sub can have. You'll also get the ability to move them around to get the best positioning. The downside is there is no real upgrade path except for going with 4 subs. If you get one more expensive sub right now and it's not enough you can always get another. I happen like like dual subs but I also respect the idea of getting one really good sub. With a $500 budget it's tough because you're right at the beginning of the really good subs. I would lean toward the 2 F12's as this will surely get you enough low end for that space. Of course this changes if the budget goes up.

 

[gadgtfreek]

I'll say this. It looks like you're building a really nice HT. One that you'll enjoy for years to come so don't scrimp on your subs. Few people have thought they bought a sub too big for their use, but many have wished they had gone bigger.

Learned that the hard way. Bought a VTF2MK4, which was nice, but did not have the ooomph for my room. Later sold it and got a VTF15 (Considered Rythmik and PB13). Later added a second VTF15, and that made the difference in freq response. After that I upgraded from small def tech speakers to the large Klipsch I have now, and the last thing I was missing was deeper bass extension in my room. Once I had the cash I sold the VTF15's and got the FV15HP's (better deal than dual PB13's) and have not looked back.

Long story short, when I first looked at upgrading from a single 12 to a single 15, I looked hard at Rythmik and SVS, and went another way when I should have just gotten them in the first place. Now not everyones room is large and needs dual high power subs, but duals are def better than one if you get quality subs, and I am a firm believer in the internet direct SUB companies. It's what they do.

 

[mattsonelist]

thank you for all the help. placed the orders today
7.1.4
kefq200c center
kefq f5 front left and right towers
kefq100 bookshelves for the sides and rear
micca m8c for the 4 in ceiling atmost speakers
hsu vtf2 mk5 sub

now im just maing the decision to go with the denion 4300h which i will need to also buy a 2 ch amp to run the system or just spend more money again and upgrade to the 6300 and be done with it..

just a thanks to everyone for all the help!! sheetrock going up soon!!

 

[BaconFat]

One thing to consider is do you have space for an AVR and an extra amp. The 6300 will give you all the amps you need in a single unit, but it's like $900 more. You can pick up a 2-channel amp for a lot less, of course you can buy one for a whole lot more too. Just depends on your budget. If the extra cost of a 6300 is within your budget, I go that route.

 

[mattsonelist]

i have plenty of room. i have a media cabinet with all my wiring direxted there and built it to the specs of the 2 recievers with a little extra wiggle room. its just a matter of so i get the 4300 and a 2 channel amp or spend the extra money ( a bit more) on the 6300. i have never worked with any HT equipment and will have to learn. so i dont want the extra 2 channel amp to be somthing that might overly confuse me

 

[BaconFat]

Using an external amp is really not that confusing to use. You just use one RCA cable per channel to connect the pre out on the AVR to the corresponding input on the external amp. You will also need to run a trigger cable from the AVR to the amp so the amp will automatically power on/off when the AVR is turned on/off. You skip all this by using the 6300 and there's no compelling reason not to go this route.

Now if you went with the 4300, I'd look at something like a Marantz MM7025 for your amp. I would use the 7025 to power your L/R front speakers and have the 4300 power everything else.

 

[mattsonelist]

pulled the trigger and just got the 6300h. it was cheaper that route than going the 2 channel amp.. east coast tvs had it for 1700